Sean Young was winning the Vancouver Island Soccer League’s Jackson Cup in 2019 with Westcastle United as the Canadian Premier League rolled out its inaugural season.
Young is no longer chasing the Jackson Cup, but trophies like the CONCACAF Champions League Cup, in which Pacific FC will compete in 2025 if it wins either the CPL regular-season or playoff championships this year.
From VISL to pro soccer — it is for scenarios such as this that the CPL was formed. Young could be the poster boy for what the CPL represents for soccer in this country. It has given aspiring Canadians such as him a chance to play professionally in their own country, an opportunity that didn’t exist prior to 2019.
PFC announced Wednesday they have picked up Young’s option and re-signed the rising Belmont Secondary graduate, who came out of the Victoria Highlanders and Vancouver Island Wave programs.
The six-foot-two attacking midfielder had four goals and four assists in 32 appearances last year, his fourth season with PFC after signing his first pro contract with the club as a 19-year-old. The lanky but fluid Island product holds the record for most career games played for PFC with 98, with his maturity, skill level and field management growing with every game played.
“Pacific FC, in its creation, set out to develop local players and create a pathway to professional football,” PFC head coach James Merrimen said in a statement.
“Sean [Young] is an example of that development pathway and we are proud of his growth.”
The Tridents also announced that 22-year-old midfielder Zakaria Bahous, a mid-season acquisition from Atlético Ottawa in 2023, has also been re-signed. Also returning to the Tridents’ midfield are fellow Canadians Steffen Yeates, 24, and Cédric Toussaint, 22, both previously under contract for 2024. They will be joined in midfield by Canadian Pierre Lamothe, who returns from on loan with Ho Chi Minh City FC of the Vietnamese Premiership V.League 1.
The Tridents will be looking to overcome the loss of three-season midfield engine Manny Aparicio, who left the club on good terms but has not announced a destination for the 2024 season.
Pacific FC opens the 2024 CPL season April 13 at Starlight Stadium against HFX Wanderers of Halifax.
